The curtain falls on the 9th Défi Azimut
Following on from the speed runs and the main 48-hour race, the competitors in the Défi Azimut lined up for the third and final act of the competition this Sunday, namely an anticlockwise circumnavigation of the island of Groix in crewed formation. Setting sail at 13:00 hours to take on the 17-mile course, propelled along by a SW’ly wind of around twenty knots, the participants devoured the track at high speed. Today’s winners – and those of the overall ranking – took just 1 hour and 8 minutes to complete the exercise, just missing out on shattering the record held since 2015 by PRB by a miniscule 14 seconds. With regards to Giancarlo Pedote, Anthony Marchand and their team, they performed pretty well aboard Prysmian Group to finish in 8th position. “The start wasn’t easy and greatly benefited the boats with daggerboards, but we still managed to post a solid performance. We had a great battle with Initiatives Cœur skippered by Sam Davies and Paul Meilhat and ultimately we’re not too dissatisfied with our race”, commented Anthony, who was promptly joined by the Italian skipper. “We’re relatively pleased, but we haven’t forgotten that the type of race we competed in today is quite different to an offshore race, which is the discipline most favoured by our 60-foot IMOCAs. In fact, the start proved to be incredibly important. Those who straightaway managed to steal a march went on to remain in front. It’s safe to say though that after the Rolex Fastnet Race and this Défi Azimut, things are heading in the right direction. Anthony and I split up the tasks nicely. There’s a good understanding between us, which is obviously positive”, explained Giancarlo, who will benefit from a day off before he gets down to a 24-hour training session on Tuesday at 11:00 hours. The duo will be accompanied during this time by Tanguy Leglatin, a renowned coach at the Lorient Grand Large training cluster, and then a representative from the North Sails loft, keen as ever to leave nothing to chance.